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Course: Medieval Europe + Byzantine > Unit 5
Lesson 2: Early Byzantine (including Iconoclasm)- Byzantine Iconoclasm and the Triumph of Orthodoxy
- The origins of Byzantine architecture
- Early Byzantine architecture after Constantine
- Woman with Scroll, An Early Byzantine Sculpture at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
- Byzantine Mosaic of a Personification, Ktisis
- Innovative architecture in the age of Justinian
- SS. Sergius and Bacchus, preserved as the mosque, Küçük Ayasofya
- Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
- Hagia Sophia, Istanbul
- Mosaics and power in Sant’Apollinare Nuovo
- Sant'Apollinare in Classe, Ravenna
- San Vitale, Ravenna
- Justinian Mosaic, San Vitale
- San Vitale (quiz)
- Empress Theodora, rhetoric, and Byzantine primary sources
- Art and architecture of Saint Catherine’s Monastery at Mount Sinai
- Ivory panel with Archangel
- The Emperor Triumphant (Barberini Ivory)
- The Vienna Dioscurides
- Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George
- Virgin (Theotokos) and Child between Saints Theodore and George
- A chalice from the Attarouthi Treasure
- Byzantine architecture during Iconoclasm
- The Byzantine Fieschi Morgan cross reliquary
- Cross-cultural artistic interaction in the Early Byzantine period
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The Emperor Triumphant (Barberini Ivory)
The Emperor Triumphant (Barberini Ivory), mid-6th century, ivory, inlay, 34.2 x 26.8 x 2.8 (Musée du Louvre, Paris)
Speakers: Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris.
Want to join the conversation?
- I don't think it was covered in the videos, but what kinds of tools would be used to make one of the ivory panels?(3 votes)
- Most likely it would involve the hand-powered versions of the modern tools you'll find here: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-To-Carve-Bone-Jewelry-Tools-and-Materials/(2 votes)
- do we have any guesses on what could have been in the missing panel? another general or higher up court member?(3 votes)
Video transcript
(lighthearted piano music) - [Steven] We're in the
Musee du Louvre in Paris looking at a very large panel of ivory that is Byzantine and we date
to the early 6th century. - [Beth] These Byzantine ivories of this early date are very rare. There's another one in the British Museum. This one shows an emperor on horseback in the central panel with four panels on the four sides, one of which is lost. - [Steve] What's remarkable to me is just how deeply carved and how
energized the central panel is. There's been tremendous
care in representing not only fine details but also alternations between areas of deep carving and broad smooth areas, for
instance of the horse's body. This is so clearly an illustration of this moment of transition
between the classical tradition and the Byzantine as we
will come to know it. Should we start at the top? - [Beth] Sure, we've got
Christ in a medallion in the center with angels on either side. He makes a gesture of blessing and around him is a symbol of the sun,
of the moon, and a star. - [Steve] He holds a scepter with a cross and looks directly out at us. You can see that he's
been rendered not with the traditional long,
thin face with a beard, but he's young, he's beardless
and his hair is curly, which is very reminiscent
of the classical tradition. - [Beth] Those two angels
are very reminiscent of Nike figures, of figures of victory that we would see in
Ancient Roman carving. - [Steve] Although the
drapery has been simplified and is now rendered by cuts
rather than fully formed folds. - [Beth] So we have this
static image of divinity and below this dynamic image
of the emperor riding in on a horse toward us, an
emperor who is a Christian. We can see him holding the
reigns as he turns the horse, planting his lance down on the ground. - [Steve] Look at the round
forms of the horse's breast, or the leg that comes out and the way that the reign pulls the
horse's head back in. There seems to be such a sensitivity to creating a sense of
volume, to establishing space for this foreshortened horse to occupy. - [Beth] Art historians
believe that the fineness of this carving indicates
that this was made in a workshop in
Constantinople in the capital of what we think of as
the Byzantine Empire, but really was then the Roman Empire. - [Steve] Now we don't know
who this imperial figure is, in fact we're really just guessing that it is an imperial figure. But we feel like we're
on fairly firm grounds because of the fineness of the carving. - [Beth] All the iconography is imperial. We have a Nike figure, a
figure of victory presenting the emperor with a palm
branch, a symbol of victory. - [Steve] We guess that in
her right hand she would've originally been holding a
crown to place on his head. - [Beth] As in so many other
images of Roman emperors, nearby is the figure of a vanquished foe. - [Steve] Look how that smaller figure behind the horse is represented. He's wearing a Phrygian
cap which was a symbol of the other, it was a
symbol of the barbarian. He's wearing pants, he's
wearing closed shoes. All of these things were
symbols of the barbarian. - [Beth] Barbarian here means foreigner, someone outside of the Roman Empire. - [Steve] Now under the
horse we see a female figure. She's quite classicizing in the way that her drape has fallen off one shoulder. She holds in the folds
of her drapery, fruits. So she becomes a symbol of plenty. Art historians think she represents perhaps conquered lands or
the bounty of the earth. - [Beth] We could see
her as a personification of the earth submitting to the emperor by holding the underside of his foot. - [Steve] If you look
closely at the central panel you'll see that there are areas where there would have been
small gems or pearls. We can see the gem for instance between the eyes of the horse. But you can also see that there
would have been many others that would have decorated
the horse's body. - [Beth] So that central
panel is in such high relief. Look at the drapery flying
back behind the emperor. There's a real sense of energy here that's contrasted with
the figure of, we think, a general, or at least a
very high level officer who's presenting the emperor with a statue representing victory. - [Steve] So that general is represented in much shallower relief and we can see that he's in a truncated
architectural space. We can just make out
Corinthian columns behind him. - [Beth] Below him is a
bag, perhaps that's booty. - [Steve] That was brought
back from a victory. Art historians assume
that on the right side of the panel, a similar
figure would have existed. - [Beth] Below we see
another winged female figure, another figure of victory in the center. - [Steve] If you look closely, you can see that she's holding a trophy. At the top we see a military uniform and so this would have been
a symbol of military triumph. - [Beth] On either side
of her are two figures. On the left, those two
figures are bearded. One seems to carry a crown,
one seems to carry a container, perhaps also filled with
booty, with a lion below. - [Steve] On the right side,
we see other conquered peoples. These have been interpreted
perhaps as people from the East. One bears an ivory tusk and the others, a staff of some sort, and between them, a tiger, and before them, an elephant. These are clearly symbols of distant peoples that have been conquered. There's a real sense of order
that is being presented. The foreign peoples of the world who have submitted to
the Byzantine emperor, to the Roman emperor, and the emperor resides on earth, under god in heaven. (lighthearted piano music)